Syria says it is still open to Arab observer plan

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press
| 4:44 a.m.Dec. 4, 2011

In this image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, a soldier takes aim in Homs, Syria. The United Nations' human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians Friday as violence surged across the country, with hours of intense shooting that sent stray bullets whizzing across the border.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT
— AP

In this image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, a soldier takes aim in Homs, Syria. The United Nations' human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians Friday as violence surged across the country, with hours of intense shooting that sent stray bullets whizzing across the border.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT
/ AP

Pro-Syrian regime protesters gather during a protest against sanctions, in Damascus, Syria, on Friday Dec. 2, 2011. The Syrian violence has led to several rounds of sanctions, a key tool used by the international community to exert pressure on the regime. The measures include travel bans and asset freezes. The EU's latest sanctions, which were announced Thursday, target 12 people and 11 companies. They add to a long list of regime figures previously sanctioned by the EU, including Assad, his top associates, and high-ranking security officials. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)— AP

+Read Caption

Pro-Syrian regime protesters gather during a protest against sanctions, in Damascus, Syria, on Friday Dec. 2, 2011. The Syrian violence has led to several rounds of sanctions, a key tool used by the international community to exert pressure on the regime. The measures include travel bans and asset freezes. The EU's latest sanctions, which were announced Thursday, target 12 people and 11 companies. They add to a long list of regime figures previously sanctioned by the EU, including Assad, his top associates, and high-ranking security officials. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
/ AP

A pro-Syrian regime protester waves a Syrian flag as he stands in front of portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad, during a protest against sanctions, Damascus, Syria, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. International intervention, such as the NATO action in Libya that helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, is all but out of the question in Syria. But the European Union, the Arab League, Turkey and others have piled on sanctions aimed at crippling the regime once and for all. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)— AP

+Read Caption

A pro-Syrian regime protester waves a Syrian flag as he stands in front of portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad, during a protest against sanctions, Damascus, Syria, Friday Dec. 2, 2011. International intervention, such as the NATO action in Libya that helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, is all but out of the question in Syria. But the European Union, the Arab League, Turkey and others have piled on sanctions aimed at crippling the regime once and for all. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
/ AP

In this image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, an inured person is put into a car in Homs, Syria. The United Nations' human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians Friday as violence surged across the country, with hours of intense shooting that sent stray bullets whizzing across the border.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT— AP

+Read Caption

In this image from amateur video made available by the Ugarit News group on Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, an inured person is put into a car in Homs, Syria. The United Nations' human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians Friday as violence surged across the country, with hours of intense shooting that sent stray bullets whizzing across the border.(AP Photo/Ugarit News Group via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT
/ AP

BEIRUT 
Syria said Sunday that it is negotiating with the Arab League to allow observers into the country, as Arab leaders prepare to tighten sanctions slapped on the regime for its crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising.

Arab leaders have given Syria a new deadline - Sunday - to respond to the League peace plan, which calls for the admission of observers to prevent regime violence against protesters.

Syria's failure to meet a Nov. 25 deadline to allow observers saw the imposition of a raft of measures, including a ban on dealings with the country's central bank.

In addition to sanctions imposed by Western countries, the Arab measures are expected to deal significant damage to Syria's economy and may undercut the regime's authority.

Syria is now signaling that it might still be willing to comply with the Arab League's peace plan, and that its objections to the plan are simply a matter of details.

"Messages are being exchanged between Syria and the Arab League to reach a certain vision that would facilitate the mission of observers in Syria, while preserving Syrian interests and sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters in Damascus.

Damascus may simply be playing for time. Qatar's prime minister said Saturday during a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in the Gulf country's capital Doha that he expected Syrian envoys to sign an agreement on Sunday.

Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani said that failure to reach an agreement may lead to U.N. involvement in the Syrian crisis, although he did not spell out what that meant.

Arab ministers have continued to meet to work out enforcement of the existing sanctions package.

Some sanctions - the central bank ban, a halt to Arab government funding of projects in Syria, and a freezing of Syrian government assets - went into effect immediately.

Saturday's Arab ministerial meeting was intended to work out further details of the sanctions, including a list of 19 Syrian officials subject to a travel ban.

Among them are President Bashar Assad's younger brother Maher, who is believed to be in command of much of the crackdown, as well as Cabinet ministers, intelligence chiefs and security officers. The list does not include the president himself.

The punitive action is meant to pressure the Syrian regime to stop its crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising in which more than 4,000 people have been killed.

The revolt against Assad's rule began with peaceful protests in mid-March, triggering a brutal crackdown. The unrest has steadily become bloodier as defectors and some civilians take up arms, prompting the United Nations' human rights chief to refer to it this week as a civil war and urge the international community to protect Syrian civilians.